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Translator: uly
Chapter: 5
Chapter Title: The Heavenly Demon Heads to the Dungeon
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A few days later, at an interior construction site in a high-rise apartment.
Crack.
Plaster from the ceiling crumbled down, sending white dust flying everywhere.
Whirrr.
Crash, clang.
The bathroom fixtures were completely disassembled, and the tiles clinging to the walls shattered with a racket.
They were demolishing all the existing fixtures for the interior renovations.
Weeeeng. Rumble. Crunch.
Amid the earth-shaking clamor and billowing clouds of dust from the demolition site.
A pitch-black shadow pierced through the haze, gradually revealing itself.
Towering height that nearly brushed the ceiling, wild hair like overgrown weeds. Eyes glowing red like those of a robot from some movie...
It was the Heavenly Demon, clad in a gray martial robe topped with a ragged work uniform.
"Troublesome."
Crossing his thick forearms over his chest, the Heavenly Demon surveyed the demolition site with a sinister gaze.
"To think that I must do such work."
Just then, the demolition foreman, Mr. Kim, who was wielding a crowbar, spotted him and bellowed.
"Hey, The Heavenly Demon! Why are you standing around like an idiot again? Hurry up and move those waste bags downstairs!"
The Heavenly Demon looked down at Mr. Kim with eyes blazing like fire.
"My surname is not The Heavenly Demon. That is merely a title."
"Whatever, just stop standing there and clear it out. We're short on time."
Without even glancing at the protesting Heavenly Demon, Mr. Kim resumed smashing the ceiling plaster with his crowbar.
The meaning behind such behavior was simple.
Disdain, contempt, scorn, disregard...
The Heavenly Demon was personally experiencing words he had only known in theory. A flood of emotions surged through his mind.
"Absurd."
Could the unparalleled ruler of the martial world have ever imagined receiving such shabby treatment?
"Ha..."
Baffled, the Heavenly Demon gathered strength in his lower abdomen and let out a clear, resonant laugh.
"Hahaha... hahahaha!"
He channeled powerful inner energy into his laughter, unleashing the Blood Demon Thunderous Roar.
"Uhahaha... cough."
As he threw his head back in laughter, a handful of falling plaster dust poured straight into his throat.
"Cough, cough."
After coughing hunched over for a good while, he shook his flushed face.
"Well, with my inner energy depleted, even unleashing the Thunderous Roar would be pointless."
Muttering to himself, he began gathering the debris scattered on the floor.
Once the waste had piled up, the Heavenly Demon lifted one massive leg straight up.
An astonishing flexibility that belied his bulk.
"Hup."
With a low grunt, he slammed his raised leg down onto the stack of tiles and wood with full force.
Crack. Snap. Crunch.
Each time his leg came down, the waste shattered as if struck by a massive hammer.
Raising and smashing his leg like a machine, he resembled a game character demolishing cars in a bonus stage.
"Slow."
Having swept up all the waste, the Heavenly Demon glanced at Mr. Kim, who was still pounding away at the ceiling plaster.
Mr. Kim, scrawny and gripping his crowbar, relentlessly smashed at the ceiling.
"Inefficient movements."
Observing impassively, the Heavenly Demon slowly approached Mr. Kim.
"Step aside. I shall demolish it in one go."
"What? Demolish what?"
"It's a soft material that crumbles with a mere tap. No need for such iron tools."
Muttering cryptically, the Heavenly Demon's eyes flashed crimson as he crouched low.
At that moment, a warning Jang Chaewon had impressed upon him echoed in Mr. Kim's mind.
"Don't assign him anything beyond hauling waste bags. Absolutely!"
"W-Wait, The Heavenly Demon. I'll handle this myself..."
As the flustered Mr. Kim waved his hands.
"Fist Demon Seven Forms, Soaring Wind Dragon Fist!"
With a thunderous shout, the Heavenly Demon leaped into the air, fist raised high.
"Fish... fish cannon?"
Mr. Kim blinked in bewilderment at the sight.
The Heavenly Demon's leap into the air with fist cocked back was strikingly similar to a special move from a '90s fighting game protagonist.
"Hah!"
Though his inner energy was gone, his body was honed to the extreme.
Thud!
With a dull impact, the Heavenly Demon's fist burrowed into the ceiling.
And it obliterated the sprinkler pipes embedded deep within.
Whoosh!
"Hm?"
Landing on the floor, the Heavenly Demon tilted his head at the water gushing from the ceiling.
"What is this? A celebration for a successful technique?"
"Uwaaah!"
The workers fled outside amid the deluge.
The middle-aged man hurled his crowbar to the ground and clutched his hair.
"The Heavenly Demon! What happens if you smash the sprinkler pipes?!"
"What nonsense is this?"
"High-rise apartments have sprinklers in the ceilings for fire safety!"
"Sprinklers?"
The Heavenly Demon merely blinked in blank confusion.
"Hey, you... flying fish fetishist!"
Inside Bokbok Interiors.
Jang Chaewon shot up from her seat and yelled at the Heavenly Demon.
"Just how long are you going to keep firing off flying fish cannons? Why do you pull that crap every time you go to a demo site!"
"The technique name is wrong. It is one of the Fist Demon Seven Forms..."
"I told you to demo the sink, and you fired a flying fish cannon at the sink. Told you to demo the bathroom interior, and you blasted the bathroom wall with a flying fish cannon. Now you're doing it to the damn ceiling?"
Her eyes flashing wildly, Jang Chaewon waved her hand.
"I said just do what you're told? Quietly haul the waste, and now you've smashed the sprinkler pipes!"
"I merely helped since he was trying to demolish the ceiling."
"Standing still is helping!"
"We are comrades on the same battlefield, are we not? Regardless, I would not abandon a fellow warrior."
"Is a construction site a battlefield?"
"In terms of ferocity, they are no different."
The Heavenly Demon stared melancholically into the void.
"Moreover, Foreman Kim is only sixty this year, despite that face. I thought he was over a hundred."
"What are you talking about?"
"The reason he's aged so poorly is likely from years of hard labor since youth. Hence the frail body and chronic ailments."
"Huh?"
The Heavenly Demon let out a deep sigh and shook his head.
"Yet today, to support his family, he drags that emaciated frame to the site. How could I stand idly by?"
Jang Chaewon, who had been listening entranced, blinked rapidly.
"Foreman Kim isn't even married."
"Astounding."
The Heavenly Demon widened his eyes in surprise.
"At that age, still alone?"
"Well, by that logic, I'm still... What the hell are you babbling about!"
Slamming the calculator on the reception table, Jang Chaewon gripped her hair with both hands.
"Because of all the crap you've wrecked these past few days, the numbers don't add up! They don't!"
She leaped to her feet and wailed at the statue-still Heavenly Demon.
"And that house you wrecked the other day? It was commissioned to us by Fox Immortal to live there with her human lover!"
"Fox Immortal? A yokai dwelling."
"Watch your mouth. Fox Immortal is not a yokai—she's a yokai deity in charge of human romances."
"A fortune teller, then."
"Shut up. Anyway, we can't handle sprinkler repairs ourselves. We have to call a specialist fire safety company!"
"I see."
Jang Chaewon's eyes gradually whitened at the Heavenly Demon's impassive expression.
"They had to shut off the entire apartment's water, so complaints poured in. What if this reaches Fox Immortal's ears? She has incredibly wide connections."
Her teeth ground against the calculator with a crunch.
"And do you know how much it costs to repair sprinkler pipes? Huh? Do you?!"
"I do not."
"..."
Reprimanding this rock of a man was futile—no damage inflicted.
No... it felt like the damage rebounded onto her.
Rubbing her throbbing forehead, Jang Chaewon pondered.
'I didn't get a worker—I got a walking hazard?'
Even the simplest demolition work during interiors was botched.
Wasn't he just useless baggage?
'He's not slacking on purpose, is he?'
Looking at the Heavenly Demon standing there baldly, her stomach churned.
'Don't make me laugh. Think I'll just let you go? I'll squeeze every drop out of you!'
Clenching her fists, a scene flashed in Jang Chaewon's mind.
The vinyl flooring scraps shattered into two pieces just from grazing the Heavenly Demon's fist.
'Right. This guy demolishes anything spectacularly!'
"If there's nothing more, I shall take my leave."
As the standing Heavenly Demon turned.
"No, there's more work."
The place Jang Chaewon led him to was a steel door at the back of a large warehouse.
In the middle of the gleaming bronze-toned metal door was an empty hole instead of a handle, opaque to what lay beyond.
"What is this?"
As the Heavenly Demon peered closely at the door, Jang Chaewon spoke in a low voice.
"Ah, our store's exclusive secret passage."
"Secret passage?"
"Yeah. An entrance straight into the dungeon zone. We can't let people know about the secret passage, so the exit point is set near the Variable Dungeon boundary..."
Clearing her throat lowly, Jang Chaewon continued.
"Ahem, officially, you need an Awakener ID and taxes deducted... it's all complicated."
"Dungeon?"
A new word, yet somehow familiar.
Racking his memory, it was among the knowledge passed from Two-Faced Ghost.
"A place where demonic beasts from other worlds dwell."
"Yes. Exactly."
A strange light gleamed in Jang Chaewon's eyes as she stared at the metal door.
"Things that originally shouldn't exist in this world."
Her gaze and tone carried a hint of melancholy.
Sensing some backstory, the Heavenly Demon replied nonchalantly.
"Why does the government not manage such a dangerous place?"
"They do. The Awakener Association manages up to the Safe Dungeon zones."
"What is a Safe Dungeon?"
"Didn't Two-Faced Ghost pass you dungeon knowledge?"
"The knowledge he gave me was only a rough overview of this world's state. Dungeons were just one part."
Sighing and slumping her shoulders, Jang Chaewon explained.
"Safe Dungeon zones are places where the dungeon rank and monster types are fixed. They're stabilized, so monsters don't come out."
"Stabilized?"
"Yeah. Unstabilized dungeons let monsters burst out. The Association strictly controls the most dangerous or important ones, regulating access."
"Then what is this place?"
"A shortcut to instantly reach the dungeon zone. It's far from the city."
As the Heavenly Demon frowned in confusion, Jang Chaewon explained calmly.
"Simply put, outside the city center are Safe Dungeon zones, and beyond those are Variable Dungeon zones where monsters roam."
Bending down, Jang Chaewon drew three concentric circles on the floor.
"If this small circle is our city, the next ring is the Safe Dungeon zone. And the outermost is the Variable Dungeon zone with monsters."
"And other cities?"
"Same deal. Safe Dungeon zones outside cities, Variable Dungeon zones beyond."
"So we're heading to the dungeon zone now."
"Mm. Got a Divine Request recently."
Jang Chaewon pointed to the entrance shrouded in endless darkness.
"To fulfill Divine Requests, we sometimes need materials from dungeons. Usually, I send spirit trees..."
Trailing off, she looked at the Heavenly Demon.
"Now you do it."
"Me?"
"Yeah. I'll help until you get the hang of it."
Pondering her words, the Heavenly Demon narrowed his eyes.
"So, to handle these Divine Requests, we need materials from the dungeon."
"Mostly. Not always."
Jang Chaewon patted the impassive Heavenly Demon's shoulder.
"You smashed my spirit trees, so now it's on you."
Stroking his chin, the Heavenly Demon's eyes flashed.
"Understood."
* * *
Stepping into the pitch-black entrance felt like plunging into deep water.
After a few more steps, his vision suddenly brightened, revealing a desolate landscape of ruins below.
The high-rises were mostly half-collapsed or mere silhouettes, their designs bizarrely futuristic.
"A strange place."
The Heavenly Demon stood atop a shattered skyscraper no different from those in the distance.
Surveying his surroundings, he couldn't hide his astonishment.
Vast forests or plains with unheard-of structures sprawled in one direction, while the opposite held a dark void with drifting hazy clouds.
"Hm."
Exhaling deeply, the Heavenly Demon pointed to the glass-like transparent light around the sky.
"What is that light floating in the sky?"
"That's the Shield. Installed along the Safe Dungeon boundary where we are, and also at the city-Safe Dungeon boundary."
"Even around the city."
"Yeah, in case monsters from the dungeon zone breach into the city. Awakeners pooled their power to block them."
"Ah, so that's the Shield."
Fortunately, the knowledge from Two-Faced Ghost included the protective barrier safeguarding the city, the Shield.
Thus, the incomprehensible 'Shield' clicked easily into place.
"Ah, over there."
Leaving the Variable Dungeon boundary and traversing the ruins, Jang Chaewon stopped before a massive derelict building.
It had a translucent glass roof, with oval metal lumps scattered beneath.
"Is this the dungeon?"
"Yeah. An F-rank called 'Gas Station.' The only open-type dungeon in the Safe Dungeon zone that's fully exposed."
"Open-type?"
"Yeah. No need to enter—just stand under the roof, and Sidewinders swarm you."
"Sidewinders?"
Grinning at the Heavenly Demon scanning around, Jang Chaewon nodded.
"Yeah, they keep popping up here."
No sooner had she spoken than a hissing sound heralded a massive shadow lunging out.
Precisely, a giant snake with small wings.
"So it's a snake."
"Can you catch it?"
At Jang Chaewon's question, the Heavenly Demon smirked.
"You wish me to play mole exterminator."
"Not just any snake. Danger Level 50 monster. Its hide is steel-tough, and..."
Danger Level.
Formally 'Estimated Danger Level'—potential casualties against a normal person.
Level 50 meant it could slaughter 50 civilians.
Too lengthy to explain fully, Jang Chaewon skipped details.
"No need for energy arts."
The Heavenly Demon nodded nonchalantly, uncurious.
"Fist Demon Seven Forms!"
Crimson Blood Flame Radiance bloomed in the charging Heavenly Demon's eyes.
"Soaring Wind Dragon Fist!"
Crouching low, he vaulted up and drove his fist into the Sidewinder's head.
Crunch!
The steel-hard hide shattered in one blow.
"Wow."
Jang Chaewon couldn't hide her surprise.
"Not just a scary face. This could crush an 8th Grade Awakener."
Relief washed over her with a smile.
"Ahh, good. At least he's useful somehow."
"What do you mean."
"N-Nothing. Quick, pull a fang?"
Nodding, the Heavenly Demon pried open the Sidewinder's jaws wide.
But its razor fangs were shattered.
"What? All broken."
"So it seems."
"Hit it gentler next time."
"I did."
"Then wait here a bit. Sidewinders spawn well in front of this dungeon."
10 minutes later.
"Soaring Wind Dragon Fist!"
"Hey, broken again."
"Weaker than it looks."
"Don't smash—try gentler."
"Got it."
30 minutes later.
"Broken again."
"Too frail."
"How about attacking somewhere other than the face?"
"Snakes can move even decapitated. Must pulverize the head instantly or face counterattack."
One hour later.
"Success!"
Jang Chaewon cheered.
Miraculously, the Sidewinder's head held form under the Heavenly Demon's strike.
"Drat. Fangs are weak too."
"What... did you just do?"
Jang Chaewon approached, stunned.
He had barely extracted the fang gently—then crushed it.
"How'd you break that?"
"How? It's that brittle."
The Heavenly Demon lightly rubbed the fang between his fingers.
It crumbled to dust and blew away.
'What the... this guy...'
Sidewinder fangs resist corrosion and surpass steel in hardness.
Awakeners forged them into weapons—yet he pulverized it like candy?
"You... said you lost your power before?"
"Indeed. All my inner energy is gone."
Screeeee.
Then a shriek pierced from the sky as a colossal shadow descended.
"X Chimera?"
Spotting it, Jang Chaewon widened her eyes.
Lion's upper body, bat wings, horse legs—a monster exceeding Danger Level 2,000.
Thud.
Landing, the X Chimera glared at the Heavenly Demon as if he were prey.
"What mongrel mix is this."
"X Chimera. Several times stronger than the Sidewinder."
Meeting its gaze indifferently, the Heavenly Demon strode forward.
"No need to hold back on this one."
"What? No! That's..."
Before Jang Chaewon's cry finished, the Heavenly Demon's fist slammed into the X Chimera's face.
Gack.
With a strangled yelp, its head rocketed skyward.
A pathetic end for a Danger Level 2,000 beast.
'Oh!'
Jang Chaewon's eyes sparkled.
The supposedly useless Heavenly Demon wielded such monstrous strength!
'With this, he could fetch materials from C-rank dungeons easily?'
Her spirit trees struggled with dungeon materials due to her aversion to hunting.
Plop.
But an egg rolled from the gaping mouth of the fallen Chimera.
"What's this?"
The Heavenly Demon carefully lifted the small egg from the ground.
Sunlight glinted off it—pill-sized, emitting an enigmatic glow.
"That's a relic."
Grinning, Jang Chaewon approached.
"Dungeon monsters sometimes drop 'relics.' This is one."
"Relic."
A brief crimson flash in the Heavenly Demon's eyes.
'Unique.'
This world was unique. Beyond that, from his perspective.
Compared to the martial world's civilization, it was like a talking primitive dropped into modernity.
Any other martial artist would struggle to adapt this quickly.
"Ah, and X Chimera relics..."
Rummaging her memory, Jang Chaewon clapped.
"Super effective for blood circulation issues!"
"I see."
"No need to be disappointed. They sell well. Want me to sell it for you?"
The Heavenly Demon gazed indifferently at the glimmering relic in his palm.
After a moment's thought, he shook his head flatly.
"I'll keep it."